Selling Price of Your Company – Goal or Output

A statement early in Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan’s book (see 5 Reasons I Love Execution) caught my attention. They say that “increasing shareholder value is an output, not a goal”. I’ve always said that increasing the value of your company is 1 of only 2 rewards for being a business owner i.e. it is a goal.

But, when I thought about it, I realized the logic really runs like this.

• The income a company generates from its operations, on an ongoing basis, represents the real value of the business to a purchaser.
• Which is why the value of an owner managed businesses is determined – most frequently – using a multiple of operating income.
• So, if management find the right strategy and execute it well, operating income will increase.
• As a result of that, all other things being equal, the value of the business will increase.
• The goal, therefore, is to find – and execute – the right strategy. Do that and owner/shareholder value takes care of itself and is, in fact, an output.

This is true regardless of whether the shareholders are a small group of family members or the public at large.

Around the time that I read Bossidy and Charan’s statement I attended an excellent seminar at the accounting firm SB Partners LLP called “Preparing Your Business for Sale”. One of the partners, Trevor Hood, a CA and CBV, explained clearly and thoroughly how businesses are valued. He finished by listing 2 sets of variables, 1 of which is under the control of management, which affect a valuation.

When I looked at the controllable variables later I realized that all of them related – directly or indirectly – to strategy. For example, markets, customers, competitive superiority, technological innovation, human resources, production and operating systems are all components of strategy.

Many of the other variables under management control – e.g. documenting policies and procedures, financial reporting, managing gross margins and costs/expenses, building an effective management team – are fundamental to successfully executing a strategy.

Even the variables Trevor correctly described as uncontrollable – economic conditions, industry trends, legislation etc. – all have to be considered during strategy development and/or business planning.

At about this point all of this thinking became very satisfying. Trevor’s variables are amongst the areas we focus business owners on when we work with them to build value in their companies. And since our whole purpose in life is strategy development and implementation – strategy made practical – it was all very reassuring………..

Then I saw an article, “Sell the Business, Sail into Retirement,” on the Globe and Mail web site. It talks about the number of businesses that will change hands in the next few years as the baby boomers retire. The article quotes a survey, which says that selling will be the most popular exit strategy.

But, the author goes on; activity is down, not up. Why, because although valuations have gone down because of the recession, owners’ still expect to get the prices that applied 3 years ago. (We encounter this “expectations gap” quite regularly.) But the good news is that low interest rates and easier lending conditions are pushing valuations back up.

We’re not sure that we buy into the comment about easier lending conditions – yet. But it is possible that it will happen in time for, or to coincide with, the boomers’ retirement.

So, what does all of this mean?

If it’s time to sell; and if valuations are going up; and if value is an output, or result, of a good strategy effectively executed then business owners need to demonstrate that they can execute better than ever before.

All of which reinforces the point that execution is, at the very least, a big issue for businesses today; it is the major job of the business owner/leader and it is a discipline which, if mastered, will give a business competitive advantage.

Comments

Nice article. Peter Drucker said the purpose of a business is to provide goods and services to others. This still stands and those business who concentrate on doing this the best while paying attention to the basics do very well.

I think if businesses were to understand key performance indicators and the drivers of those indicators, their businesses would do much better and actually become saleable at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, most businesses are not saleable and as a result the owners either can continue running them or liquidate. Not always a very nice option after working for forty years.